The Maharashtra government has accepted the State Backward Class Commission's report and decided to give quota in jobs and educational institutes to the Maratha community, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said Sunday. The reservation will be granted to the community under a new category called 'Socially and Educationally Backward Class' (SEBC) as per the recommendation of the commission, he said. The politically dominant Maratha community constitutes over 30 percent of the state's population. Speaking to reporters after a cabinet meeting on the eve of the winter session of Maharashtra legislature in Mumbai, Fadnavis said, "The state cabinet has accepted the backward class commission's report for Maratha reservation. The Winter Session of the Maharashtra legislature which will start on Monday will go on for two weeks. The two-week session will be unique as it will be held in Mumbai instead of Nagpur after 57 years.

RBI board meeting on today; likely to reach common ground on some key issues

The ongoing rift with the government is set to play out at the RBI's crucial board meeting on Monday, with the Finance Ministry nominees and some independent directors expected to take on Governor Urjit Patel and his team over issues ranging from MSME credit to the central bank's reserves, though both sides are in favour of reaching a common ground. While there have been reports and demands from some quarters for the Governor to step down, sources said Patel is unlikely to yield under pressure and will rather mount a strong defence of the central bank's policies regarding stringent non-performing asset (NPA) recognition norms as well as measures taken to ease credit supply to MSMEs. Patel and his four deputies, who all are members of the RBI's 18-member central board, will present a united front, while a few independent directors too are expected to support the central bank's mission to clean up bank balance sheets, sources said.

Sabarimala row: TDB to move Supreme Court today

The Travancore Devaswom Board, which manages the Sabarimala shrine, on Monday will move the Supreme Court seeking more time to implement its order allowing women of menstrual age to offer prayers at the Lord Ayyappa temple. The TDB's move comes a day after the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, at an all-party meeting, took a firm stand that it was bound to implement the top court order and rejected suggestions by opposition parties that it seek time from the court. "We will move the Supreme court on Monday through Advocate Chandra Uday Singh," TDB President A Padmakumar said. The temple and surrounding areas have come under unprecedented security for the season which draws lakhs of devotees to offer prayers to Lord Ayyappa. The Supreme Court is slated to hear petitions seeking review of its 28 September order in January but has refused to stay it.

The Supreme Court on Monday will hear the petition filed by Zakia Jafri challenging the clean chit given by the Special Investigating Team (SIT) to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in connection with the 2002 post-Godhra riots in Gujarat when Modi was the chief minister. Zakia, the wife of Ehsan Jafri, an ex-MP who was killed in one of the worst incidents during the riots, has also challenged the Gujarat High Court's October 5, 2017 order rejecting her plea against the SIT's decision.

The Nirankari Bhawan in Amritsar where two men on a motorcycle reportedly threw a grenade. PTI

Three persons were killed and at least twenty others were injured when two motorcycle-borne miscreants hurled a grenade at a religious congregation of over 200 devotees inside a Nirankari Bhawan at Adliwal village near Amritsar's Rajasansi area Sunday, the police said earlier. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh suspected Pakistan's ISI-backed Khalistani or Kashmiri militants' role in the Amritsar terror attack, and vowed that he would not let the "forces of terror" destroy the state's "hard-earned peace". “The possibility of involvement of ISI-backed Khalistani or Kashmiri terror groups could not be ruled out (in the Amritsar terror attack)," said Amarinder Singh in an official statement, adding the forensic teams have been rushed to the spot and "all angles were being investigated".

N Chandrababu Naidu to meet Mamata Banerjee today

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is scheduled to meet West Bengal prime minister Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata on Monday, to discuss the possibility of an alliance against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Chandrababu Naidu on 11 November had met Congress party national general secretary and former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot at his residence and discussed the future course of action. Naidu said that efforts are on to bring together all non-BJP parties and that he had met Congress president Rahul Gandhi to discuss measures on protecting democracy. Taking a dig at prime minister Narendra Modi, Naidu said that the former is responsible for the present state of affairs in Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI). To establish an anti-BJP platform, Naidu till date has met Congress party president Rahul Gandhi, National Congress (NC) chief Farooq Abdullah, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, veteran leader Sharad Yadav, former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha, Samjadwati party leaders Mulayam Singh and Akhilesh Yadav.

Narendra Modi to launch metro, Expressway projects in Haryana today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday will dedicate two projects in Haryana, including opening of the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Sunday. Khattar examined the preparations for Modi’s rally to be organised in Sultanpur in Gurugram near the Expressway. He said the prime minister will also dedicate the Mujesar (Ballabhgarh) Metro in Faridabad via remote control from Gurugram. The construction for KMP started in 2006 but the previous government was unable to complete it by 2014. The total cost of the Expressway was over Rs. 9,000 crore. Modi will also lay the foundation of country's first Sri Vishwakarma Skill Development University in Palwal.

Fuel price cut further

Petrol price on Sunday was cut by 20 paise a litre and diesel by 18 paise, the 29th straight daily reduction in rates that has wiped away all of the massive price increase in petrol witnessed in two months since mid-August that had triggered a political uproar. Petrol price in Delhi was cut to Rs 76.71 a litre from Rs 76.91 on Saturday, according to a price notification issued by state-owned fuel retailers. Diesel is being now sold at Rs 71.56 per litre as compared to Rs 71.74 on Saturday. With this, the reduction in rates in the last one month totals Rs 7.29 per litre for petrol and Rs 3.89 a litre for diesel.